Recent developments in film, cameras, and processing equipment, primarily by the Eastman Kodak Company, have led to the wide acceptance of the disc format for film. Several U.S. patents have issued relating to automatic equipment for processing film discs; e.g., see U.S. Pat. Nos.:
4,112,452 PA1 4,112,453 PA1 4,112,454 PA1 4,167,320 PA1 4,178,091 PA1 4,188,106 PA1 4,252,430 PA1 4,361,221
In addition to processors marketed by the Eastman Kodak Company, automatic disc film processors intended for commercial use are also marketed by several other companies; e.g., Pako Corporation, Houston Photoproducts, Inc., Oscar Fisher Company, Inc., Copal, Hope Industries, Inc. and Fuji Photo Film. Although the various processors offered by these and other companies differ in their detailed mechanizations, they all include means for concurrently transporting multiple film discs through successive processing stages, which stages typically involve spin agitation through a liquid or spin drying. The specifications for a widely used commercial process are summarized in the following process table wherein it will be noticed that stages 1-6 involve passing the film discs through a liquid whereas stages 7 and 8 involve drying the film discs:
______________________________________ DISC FILM DEVELOPING PROCESS Processing Processing Temperature Stages Time Spin (rpm) (.degree.C.) ______________________________________ (1) Developing 3'15" 200 .+-. 20% 37.8 .+-. 0.2 (2) Bleaching 6'30" 200 .+-. 20% 24- 28 (3) Washing 1 3'15" 200 .+-. 20% 24- 28 (4) Fixing 6'30" 200 .+-. 20% 24- 28 (5) Washing 2 3'15" 200 .+-. 20% 24- 28 (6) Stabilizing 3'15" 200 .+-. 20% 24- 28 (7) Slinging 3'15" 2,000 .+-. 15% Normal temp. Water Off (8) Drying 6'30" 200 .+-. 20% Ambient + (0- 10) ______________________________________ Total Processing time: 35'45